DELCO MULLS TAX CUT
COUNTY MAY SLASH LEVY, PUT MONEY BACK IN YOUR POCKETS
MEDIA >> Need a reason for thanks? Delaware County Council is mulling giving residents an early Christmas gift - in the form of a small tax cut.
Although the bulk of a property owner’s tax bill is allocated for school district funds, the county bill makes up a portion of that, as does municipal taxes.
This year, due to what council calls prudent savings over time, County Council Chairman John McBlain has asked Executive Director Marianne Grace to consider a 2.5 percent tax decrease for homeowners.
On a home assessed $100,000, that would amount to $25.
“Here, again, I recognize it’s a modest (decrease),” McBlain said. “I realize no one’s going on vacation to Disney World on that. But, that being said, that may be dinner for a family and for a senior citizen on a fixed income, it may be a portion of their food bill for a week.”
Grace, as required by the Home Rule Charter, already presented the budget in October. The spending plan held the line with no tax increase for the fifth consecutive year and an slashed spending by approximately $250,000. Services remain the same.
The charter also outlines that council must provide their comments or recommendations by the third Monday in November.
Upon looking at it, McBlain noticed that the county has been able to return modest surpluses to the reserve fund over the last few years. The reserve fund now stands at about $54 million.
“Since the turn of the century, that’s the largest amount that we’ve accumulated,” he said, explaining that after setting aside a portion for unforeseen expenses, such as emergencies, the county still was looking at about $4.3 million in reserve.
McBlain said that he only remembered having to use some of these unassigned savings in 2013 during his tenure as councilman and council solicitor.
“We’ve been able to accumulate these very modest surpluses,” he said. “We’ve been able to grow our fund balance to a very healthy number. So, what I’ve asked in my budget recommendation is for them to take a look at utilizing that remainder $4.3 million of the unassigned fund balance and decreasing the real estate taxes because of that.”
The county must maintain at least 10 percent of its general fund for its reserve fund.
“One of the reasons we’ve been able to save money is because of the number of job vacancies that exist,” McBlain said, adding that about 200 to 300 of the county’s 3,000 positions are unfilled. “Many of them we do have to fill ... We had retirement incentives in 2010 and in 2014, which many employees took advantage of.”
In addition, he said the use of technology has streamlined county government.
“I think it would be responsible to pass a no tax increase budget,” McBlain said, “but I also think that when we are in a situation where we’ve accumulated a sufficient amount, a more than sufficient amount in our reserve fund, we should allow some of that money to go back to the taxpayers. Rather than us hold their money, they can figure out what to do with their own money.”
The proposition also has to be considered by the remainder of county council, who will review the $354 million budget at a public presentation at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5 at the county council meeting room at the Government Center in Media. The budget will be up for a vote the following Wednesday, Dec. 12.